The development of a small-scale survey instrument of UK teachers to study professional use (and non-use) of and attitudes to social media

This paper documents the creation, implementation and analysis of a survey instrument designed to reveal patterns of use and attitudes towards the value of social media by UK teachers. The study was motivated to discover which teachers use social media professionally, how they use it (both personally and professionally) and attitudes to social media as a professional tool (for their students' and their own professional use). The instrument was created from verbal data from two focus group discussions regarding the use of social media in education. Attitude statements were included verbatim when practical. This instrument was placed online and practising teachers invited to complete it (n?=?216). Exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical clustering identified 9 factors from 54 attitude statements and 5 distinct teacher groups. The rich data allowed each group to be carefully defined, providing potentially invaluable information to school leaders when developing social media projects to recognize and accommodate the full range of teacher concerns and experience. The paper also addresses methodological concerns regarding instrument creation, dealing with missing data and the impact of missing data on subsequent analysis.     

Using Food Science Demonstrations to Engage Students of All Ages in Science,Technology, Engineering,and Mathematics (STEM)

Abstract: The overarching goal of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Initiative is to foster effective STEM teaching and learning throughout the educational system at the local, state, and national levels, thereby producing science literate citizens and a capable STEM workforce. To contribute to achieving this goal, we have assembled six food science demonstrations for use at all educational levels and have presented these lessons to students at the elementary through higher education levels. The focus of this article is to share these food science demonstrations and our experiences using them so that others can use them for engaging students in STEM disciplines, through food science, at any educational level. Featured demonstrations include: (1) liquid nitrogen ice cream: a matter of changing phases, (2) seeing our senses work together, (3) whipping up the cream, (4) milk versus dark: what is the difference?, (5) counting calories by burning them, and (6) culinary spherification: the wonders of cross‐linking. Overall, our experience with using these demonstrations has been very positive. Students appear engaged in the learning process and love to consume the demonstration end products. Downloadable handouts containing demonstration details for each demonstration are available as supporting information.     

Positive Effects of Converting a Food and Bioprocessing Analysis Course to an Inquiry‐Guided Approach

Abstract: Food science laboratory courses are traditionally taught as a series of preplanned laboratories with known endpoints. In contrast, inquiry‐guided (IG) laboratories allow students to ask questions, think through problems, design experiments, then adapt and learn in response to unexpected results. This study examined the effects of converting the course, “Analytical Techniques in Food and Bioprocessing Sciences” from a traditional approach (2008 to 2010 data) to an IG approach (2011 data) by assigning teams of 2–3 students a food and a set of 5 analyses to conduct over the course of the semester. Students were required to choose and justify the use of specific methods for each analysis, as well as to develop a supply list and a budget for the semester‐long project. During the semester, students were required to post and discuss their weekly progress with the instructor, teaching assistants, and the rest of the class using an online discussion forum. At the end of the semester, students were required to present the results of their analysis in both oral and written formats. Overall course grades were significantly higher (P≤ 0.05) using IG in 2011 compared to 2010 and 2009, but not to 2008 grades. Numerical course evaluations for the instructor, overall course, and lab, as well as written course evaluations all significantly (P≤ 0.05) improved. This suggests that an IG approach may measurably improve student performance in terms of course grades and the ability to complete semester long projects. It may also increase student satisfaction with the course, as measured by numerical and written end of semester surveys.     

Lifelong learning policy in two national contexts

This article describes and discusses the development of lifelong learning policy in two EU member states, Denmark and Portugal. The purpose is to show how different societal and historical contexts shape the development and implementation of lifelong learning policies, even though these policies have significant common elements. As a basis for the discussion an inventory of policy elements is presented. Denmark and Portugal have been chosen as examples of smaller EU member states with different historical, social and cultural characteristics. Developments and policies in the two countries, including the links with EU education policy, are described. The discussion includes comparison drawing on the inventory of policy elements. A main conclusion is that the different historical trajectories of the two countries remain very important for present-day education and for the advancement of lifelong learning policy. Early development of public primary education and popular adult education has provided a strong foundation for lifelong learning policy in Denmark while in Portugal not only institutional provision but also popular demand for lifelong learning has had to be built up relatively recently. EU education policy has had much more impact on lifelong learning policy in Portugal than in Denmark, because Portugal has had to depend much more on economic support from the EU social fund.     

The constitutive force of the Catecismo del Pueblo in Puerto Rico's popular democratic party campaign of 1938–1940

This paper explores the formation of a political order, a constituency, during the 1938–1940 senatorial campaign of the Partido Popular Democratico in Puerto Rico. In particular it examines the constitutive force of the Catecismo del Pueblo, a small booklet in the form of questions and answers regarding the party's basic assumptions and orientations. This booklet developed a political constituency by mediating a covenantal relationship through discourse in the form of a catechism. Burke's notion of constitutional dialectics is used to explore the Catecismo's nature as constitutive, as a catechism, and as the mediator of a political covenant between the Party and the jíbaros.     

A test of anxiety/uncertainty management theory: The intercultural adaptation context

Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theory, as formulated by Gudykunst and Hammer (1987a), proposes that intercultural adaptation outcomes are based on the two mediating dimensions of uncertainty reduction and anxiety reduction and sixteen secondary variables that systematically influence uncertainty and anxiety reduction. In this paper, the sixteen variables originally identified are categorized into four “fundamental factors”; (interpersonal saliencies, intergroup saliencies, communication message exchange, and host contact conditions). The present study examines this revised Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) theory of intercultural adaptation. A total of 291 international students at two universities in the United States participated in the study. The study found overall fit of the revised AUM theory vis‐a‐vis the two mediating factors of uncertainty and anxiety reduction, the importance of interpersonal saliencies for uncertainty reduction, and the importance of host contact conditions for facilitating feelings of comfort and reducing anxiety. Intergroup saliencies were significantly related to uncertainty reduction but not, contrary to expectation, to anxiety reduction. Communication message exchange (which consists of information gathering strategies and second language proficiency) was, again contrary to expectation, not significantly related to either uncertainty or anxiety reduction. Finally, cultural identity showed a small though significant negative relationship to intergroup saliencies, suggesting a stronger, ingroup identity was associated with increased uncertainty. The paper concludes by proffering explanations for the findings and suggestions for future research.     

The academic and psychological benefits of exercise in healthy children and adolescents

This review examines the psychological benefits exercise is connected to in healthy children and adolescents. Studies on the effect of exercise on academic performance, self-esteem, emotions, and mood were examined. Academic performance is found to be maintained when normal academic classes are reduced and replaced by an increase in exercise, physical activity, or physical education. Exercise seems to have a positive effect on several aspects of cognition and self-esteem in healthy children and adolescents. A positive connection between exercise and emotions and moods in children is found in the few studies that have been conducted.     

Creativity as a developmental resource in sport training activities

The multidimensional concept of creativity has a much wider scope of application than disclosed by prevailing research on sporting creativity. In this area, creativity is mostly perceived, praised, and approached for its performative, in-game benefits. Pointing to the belief that creativity requires well-developed technical skills, this phenomenon is often treated as a performative end. When targeting creative match performances, the developmental and experiential benefits of creative activities may be neglected, and creativity may be reserved for the best offensive players. To nourish and nuance practical and scholastic dialogues, the purpose of this paper is to conceptualize creativity as a developmental resource in sport training activities. This is accomplished by building on and articulating [Shilling, C. (2005). Body in culture, technology and society. London: SAGE] body-sociology, [Gl?veanu, V. P. (2012). What can be done with an egg? Creativity, material objects, and the theory of affordances. The Journal of Creative BehaviorJournal of Creative Behavior, 46(3), 192–208. doi:10.1002/jocb.13, Gl?veanu, V. P. (2016b). The psychology of creating: A cultural-developmental approach to key dichotomies within creativity studies. In The Palgrave handbook of creativity and culture research (pp. 205–223). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-46344-9_10] socio-cultural notions about creativity, and [Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education– an introduction to the philosophy of education. New York, NY: The Free Press.] educational philosophy. Based on these positions, creativity is treated as a dynamic quality of action that is located in the transaction between the player and the specific situation (i.e. affordances, intentions, and norms). Hence, creativity regards the exploratory and playful processes of discovering, exploiting, and originating unusual action possibilities (i.e. acting on unperceived, unexploited, and uninvented affordances). Grounded in these ideas, we argue for the stimulation of creative actions during training, which should not be forgotten when trying to nurture in-game creativity. Essentially, the developmental benefits (e.g. learning and enjoyment) of creativity could apply to all players, at all levels. Among others, creativity may enhance their situated potential (e.g. expanding the boundaries of usual actions; developing the capacity for novel actions). For instance, the exploration of unexploited affordances (i.e. actions normally avoided due to norms) entails broad experiences and may help the players discover novel actions. Moreover, creative activities may develop the players’ capacity to search for, handle, and/or create unexpected, unusual, and novel situations. This is vital for players’ development and performance.     

Is Procrastination Related to Low-Quality Data?

While it is easy to assume that university students who wait until the last minute to complete surveys for their class research requirements provide low-quality data, this issue has not been empirically examined. The goal of the present study was to examine the relation between student research procrastination and two important data quality issues—careless responding and measurement noninvariance. Data gathered from university students across two semesters tentatively indicated that procrastination is related to low-quality survey data. Procrastination was slightly more problematic for certain data quality issues (measurement noninvariance) than others (careless responding). These relations, however, were small and contingent on how procrastination and careless responding were measured. Accordingly, it seems more beneficial for researchers to select a sampling window that supports their research goals and statistical power requirements rather than select a sampling window that attempts to minimize careless survey responding or other measurement issues.